Personal Computer News


Stay Kool

Author: Bryan Skinner
Publisher: Bug Byte
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Personal Computer News #106

STAY KOOL

Manic Miner clones such as Stay Kool, the latest from Bug-Byte, are still being released even though there are almost more than enough already.

As Luke Warm, space pilot, your task is to find and collect fuel rods for your shuttlecraft so you can leave your crippled spaceship which is hurtling into a nearby star. This puts a time limit on the game represented by the rising temperature - stay cool, Luke.

It all boils down to a platform game in the classic tradition. There are levels which dissolve as your traverse them, tiny platforms which require skill and patience to reach and, of course, a host of hazards. These vary from deranged robots to escapees from Luke's space monster menagerie. The mobile problems take predictable paths, so learning a new screen is not difficult.

Stay Kool

You can brush against a lethal nasty in mid-leap, only to find you're still okay, thanks to the generous collision detection. Similarly, you don't have to be perfectly placed to climb ladders or use the transporters.

As with many of its predecessors, the locations have wacky names, e.g. The Surgery, The Sewage Fermentation Plant and The Pteradactyl's Lair (Why is it that programmers are so poor at spelling?)

The animation is good - there are chomping monsters, bubbling test tubes and rippling thingumibobs; even Luke swings his arms as he hastily seeks out the flashing.

But what more can you say? Stay Kool is a competent, not too tricky, version of something you've probably played a hundred times.

Bryan Skinner

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